China’s Shift Away From Big Four Auditors Has EY Most Exposed

Among the four biggest global accounting firms, Ernst & Young is likely to be the most exposed to Beijing’s crackdown on US-linked auditors, as it stands to lose about a 10th of its China revenue.

The Asian country recently urged state-owned enterprises to phase out Big Four contracts and hire locally instead in a bid to rein in foreign accountants amid what it called data security concerns. For now, the guidance applies to only central SOEs, and it’s unclear whether province-level SOEs and private companies will be included later.

In 2021, the Big Four audited a quarter of China’s 98 ...